


Wellerman

by CosplayShenanigans



Category: In the Heights - Miranda/Hudes
Genre: Accidental Vandalism, Autistic Pete, Childhood Friends, Coping Mechanisms, Family Issues, M/M, Mentions of Catholic School, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sea Shanties, Stimming, meltdowns, racial profiling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:09:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27579638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosplayShenanigans/pseuds/CosplayShenanigans
Summary: Since the Blackout, things have been different for Sonny and Pete. Once childhood friends, the two now kept a stable relationship, shielding it from neighbors and overprotective cousins.They didn't need to show the world, they were fine with showing each other.Especially when the other person IS their world.
Relationships: Graffiti Pete/Sonny
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	Wellerman

_Kshhh. Kshh_

_Kshh._

_Ksh Kshhh._

He liked the noise of the spray cans. Not too grating on the ears, but just loud enough to give the pleasant noise room to enter the mind. 

His vacant hand traveled down to his music player, ticking down a few notches to allow the sound of the paint mix with his melodies. A playlist of his favorite sea shanties, a few set to repeat multiple times so he wouldn't have to do so manually. Sometimes, he wanted to listen to the same song over and over once it came up. Having found a pattern in his interests, he'd discovered how many times each song needed to repeat. Spanish Ladies needed 3, Wellerman only 2. The one that repeated most often was Song of the Vikings, at 7. 

The artist pulled up his paint mask again and turned back to his work, spraying to fill in the shapes painted on the mural he'd been commissioned for. In a normal environment, in this weather, he'd need to stop and drink from a water bottle or Diet Pepsi due to the heat. However, this wasn't his normal environment. 

He'd been hired to paint a mural of a pirate ship, in the hallway of the inpatient wing inside the local Children's Hospital. For multiple reasons, he'd accepted. Not only did he want to make sure that those kids had something to look at other than a blank wall, the fact that it had to deal with pirate ships meant he could listen to his sea shanties for inspiration. 

After several coats, the mural was finished, and he received his payment. Thanking the commissioner, he took his bag, and took his self outside. 

It had become dark.

Pulling off his paint mask and storing it in his backpack, he leaned against a streetlight to take a moment to catch his breath. He also took out his earbuds, to listen for any danger. Storing that inside his bag as well, he straightened his posture and tossed the bag over one shoulder, beginning to walk home. 

As he passed through town, he heard a familiar voice call his name. 

"Pete! Hey, Pete!!! **_PETE!! HEY!!!"_**

Pete turned himself around with a confused look before his expression brightened at the sight of who was calling for him. Opening his arms expectantly, he was nearly knocked to the ground as Sonny ran at him full force, bonking his head against Pete's chest. 

"Hey," Pete greeted, likely smelling of paint and hospital chemicals. 

"Hi," Sonny mumbled into his lover's shirt, tilting his head upward a little bit to look the other in the eyes. "What did you paint today?" 

"I took a picture," Pete dug into his right pocket and slid out his phone, showing him the most recent photo of his mural. "Did that in the local children's hospital. Took me a while." He informed as Sonny grasps his phone and looks at it in awe. 

"That's really good, oh my god" Sonny whispered, Pete taking the phone from him and putting it back in his pocket. 

Pete stepped a few paces away from his boyfriend when he saw another person coming, knowing exactly who it was because of how pissed he looked. 

"Sonny!! What did I tell you about-" Usnavi stopped in his tracks and stood straighter, crossing his arms. He stared at the artist next to his cousin and huffed before nodding East. "Go home, Pete." 

"Why?" Pete asked without thinking, before realizing what he said. He still decided to stick with that, it was a good point. If he'd said anything that wasn't fitting he'd apologize. 

"Why? On account of you don't live here, Pete." The man replied, cocking an eyebrow. "And the bodega is closed for now. You can come by in the morning, I don't care, but you don't live here." 

Pete, biting his tongue to keep from saying anything to get himself in trouble. He wanted to hang out with Sonny, but saying that would really upset the protective man in front of him. 

"Alright, whatever. See you guys later." Pete said instead, giving Sonny a knowing look, then adjusting his backpack and heading towards his apartment.

As soon as he made it home, he hung up his backpack and threw himself down on his couch, pulling out his phone to text Sonny. 

[You comin?] 

A few minutes passed before he got [Yeah, gimme like half an hour til Navi goes to bed.] as a response.

Pete didn't want to wait half an hour, and then some while Sonny made it to his house. Then an idea sparked into his mind.

[Want me to come pick you up so you don't gotta walk alone?] 

[That would be nice!]

He stood from his couch and made his way towards his door.

He waited outside Sonny's window, pretending he didn't exist while Sonny got ready. He felt like the barrio was staring at him, when in reality the entire neighborhood was likely asleep. He rocked back and forth on his feet before hearing the window open. His head lifted up and his eyebrows shot up like a rocket as he watched Sonny climb down from his bedroom. As his boyfriend's feet got on the ground safely, he joined their hands and began walking his lover towards the apartment complex he lived in. 

Pete lifted out his phone to check a text, then stumbled over his own feet and dropped it on the concrete of the sidewalk. Audible gasp, he knelt down and picked it up to find the screen cracked. His expression dropped and he shut his eyes into as straight and empty of an expression as he could. Giving the illusion of emptiness while his emotions swam rampant in his mind.

His feelings were always complicated. How should he be feeling in this moment? Sad? Angry? Happy that he had an excuse to buy a new phone? 

The closest he got was angry, mad at himself for dropping his phone like a klutz. He relayed this to Sonny, but it still didn't feel like it fit his mood best. The tension normally pooled to make his body stiff. He could only describe it as ' _wanting to break his knees_ ', but not in a literal sense. 

**"Heave her up and away we'll go, away Santiana"** Pete said to himself harshly, through gritted teeth to cope with the overwhelming feeling in his body. Sea shanties were often a coping mechanism for him, he couldn't pinpoint exactly why. They were just nice. 

Sonny, through all of this, let his boyfriend express his feelings how he needed, and joined his hand in his again, continuing to walk along towards Pete's home. 

Pete squeezed his hand tightly and took deep breaths through words of Santiana


End file.
